Stillers-Iggles Postgame
Analysis
The Stillers
visited Philth-adelphia for the last semi-meaningful preseason game.� No grades issued here in preseason; merely some
commentary.�
QB:�
Maddox was fairly sharp in completing 4 of 6 in the 1st half.� He had good pocket presence and awareness, and
appears to be ready for the regular season.�
He hooked up with Plex on a nice 28-yard play.� Ben Roth took over the chores 5 minutes into the 2Q.� Roth showed some signs of brilliance, and,
of course, some signs of sloppiness.� Roth's
best moment came early in the 4Q, where he first shuffled from pressure, then
shook off a tackler, and then scrambled right and had the presence of mind to
throw accurately on the run to Kranchick for a 26-yard play.� Roth's primary weakness right now is locking
in on his primary receiver within a nanosecond of the snap.� Kordell Stewart was once known as "The
Western Union Man"; clearly, this is a moniker that Roth does not want to
earn.� Roth was charged with an INT, but
this was a well-thrown pass that Freddie Milons simply allowed to clang off his
unstretched hands.� St. Pierre played in
mop-up, and handed off almost exclusively, tossing just 1 pass for 4
yards.�
RB:�
Staley started and was very, very impressive.� On the first series, he took a toss sweep on 4th and 1, read the
play well and then hit the hole like a thunderbolt, gaining 5 yards.� Later, he bolted around left end for a nice
14-yard TD run.� Verron Haynes got a
lil' work.� He showed excellent balance and
2nd effort on a screen pass late in the 2Q, getting a clutch 1st down on 3rd
& 6.�� Dante Brown got some light
work, scoring a TD on a short plunge.� Willie
Parker got the bulk of the work -- mostly in the 2H -- rushing 19 times for 106
yards and 1 TD.�� The TD run was a nice
plunge, with Parker seeing a very small hole and hitting it sharply.� He also ripped off a nice 25-yard run in the
4Q, showing a good burst and good instincts.�
Doughboy Bettis showed he's in regular season form, gaining his usual 3
yards per carry on 6 carries.� He had 9
yards on one carry through a gaping hole, but otherwise looked as slow as
whaleshit as he stuttered and lumbered about.�
Clearly, with a 3-year veteran like Haynes around to back up the very
capable Staley, Fatboy Bettis serves no purpose whatsoever on this roster, and
is only robbing Parker or Brown of a well-deserved roster spot.�
FB: Kreider got some work and is ready
for the rigors of punishing would-be tacklers.�
He got 1 carry on a 4th & 1 plunge and got a key first down.�
WR:�
Plex was pretty impressive tonight.�
He had a splendid 1-handed grab in the 1Q on a seam route, good for 28
yards.� Despite defensive PI, he almost
hauled in a TD pass amidst double coverage in the 2Q.� What impressed me most about Plex tonight was his willingness and
desire to reach out and pluck the ball with his hands, rather than
waiting for the ball to clang off his chest or shoulder pads.� Ward and El each had 1 grab in limited
duty.� Fredie Milons dropped an easy
pass early in the 3Q, and then later alligator-armed a slant-in, which caused
the ball to clang off his hands for an INT.�
These plays, along with his KO return fumble, might allow Freddie to
join the ranks of the nation's unemployed.�
�
TE:�
Tuman appears to have cemented the starting job.� He's more bulked up than he's ever been, and
is playing well enough.� He had 1 grab
for 9 yards, and Jay Riemersma managed to climb out of the hot tub to grab 1
pass for 4.� Tuman is blocking better
than Riem and, with a much better health record, should be the starter.� Kranchick had the 26-yard grab.� He certainly needs to bulk up, but this is a
player that needs to be kept for long-term development should the team ever
decide to use the TE in the passing game.�
He also poses a very interesting and viable option for kick blocking,
although, because he's not a defensive player, he'll probably never be allowed by
Billy Cowher to perform such chores.�
OL:. Fat Oliver Ross got severely abused
by Jevon Kearse -- supposedly "over rated" by Ted Bouchette -- on the
Stillers very first play, which caused a strip of Maddox, but Oliver recovered
the fumble.� That aside, the starting
unit's blocking was acceptable.� Faneca
led the way on the Staley TD.� Vincent
pulled across center and made the hole -- albeit it against a DB -- on the
1-yard Brown TD plunge. �Hartings was
flagged for holding on a screen pass, and Brooks was called for a hold in the
2Q.� At this point, the wailing and
whining and crying poor over the O-line needs to stop.� This 5-man unit is, at the very least, more healthy,
experienced, and capable than at least 20 other units in the NFL right
now.�
DL:�
The line play was unspectacular but acceptable.� Aaron Smith is quite ready for the season to
start.� Brett Keisel was pretty active,
although he whiffed miserably on a downfield tackle of Mahe on a 3rd & 20
draw play, resulting in a 33-yard gainer.�
Chris Hoke showed some grittiness, getting his helmet ripped off by the
center, but still continuing through with his rush, getting to the QB just a
split-second too late on the Lewis 14-yard TD catch. ��Kirschke seems to be a capable reserve and should give the starting
D-line a good breather now and then.�
LB:�
In a sentence that has never been previously written here at
Stillers.com, the Stillers got stout, tough play from #92.� No, not The Paper Tiger, Jason GilDong, but
James Harrison.� Harrison, unlike his
predecessor in jersey #92, shed blockers, hit ballcarriers, and played with aggression.� Clearly, combined with his spec teams play,
Harrison must make the roster.� James
Farrior, supposedly The Winged God of TE Coverage, was beaten rather handily by
Smith for a 20-yard gainer and by Lewis for a 25-yard gainer.� �On
the very next play after the 20 yarder, Farrior was juked on a flare pass to
Mahe.� Nonetheless, Farrior should be
good to go as the season beckons.� Larry
Foote was surprisingly active, although he got beaten by the TE for a TD.� Until the regular season starts, I don't
want to hear any more bullshit blather about "Zo Jackson looks lost out
there."� On passing plays, the guy
spent �95% of the time DROPPING into
that little piss-ant zone in the left flats.�
Although untouched, Zo came crisply off the edge and blistered Mahe on a
run up left tackle early in the 2Q.� Zo
also had a nice shed and stuff on a plunge later in the 2Q.� Zo was shrugged off by McNab back in the pocket,
resulting in a 4-yard gain.� All in all,
Zo played no worse than Jason GilDong ever played, and, given some more
experience, has a chance to easily surpass Jason's limited contributions.� Adibi got some limited PT later in the
game.� He had a good shed & stop on
a ground play.� Roper also chipped in a
couple of plays.�
�
DB:�
Some spottiness that concerns me.�
Chad Scott looked confused on a couple deepish balls to Owens.� In the 1st series, only a horribly
underthrown pass allowed Scott to get a mitt on the ball; otherwise, it would
have been an easy, nice gainer to Owens.�
Later, Scott stood still while Owens ran right by for an easy TD catch, although
a holding flag negated the play.� Townsend
played very acceptably and is ready for the starting chores.� Ike had good coverage on a deep pass to the
EZ in the 3Q.� He did foolishly try to
sack McNab up high, and McNab easily shrugged him off and scampered for a
27-yard gain.� Coclough got some good PT
on defense.� He showed some good skill
and athleticism, although he also showed some greenness and some rough spots
that need grooming.� Troy Pola was very
active, and is hitting like a LB.� On
the down side, he took a couple of foolish angles on deepish pass plays, which
does concern me a little bit.� Chris Hope
showed something we haven't seen in over 4 years -- some deep help on a deep
flag route, which was nicely smothered and thereby incomplete.�
Spec
teams:� Some ups, some downs.� El had a nifty 11-yard PR early in the
game.� Coclough also showed some very nice
flashes on punt returns, and really gives the Stillers a superb 1-2 punch.� James Harrison had 2 good, solid stops in KO
coverage, something we never, ever saw from a #92 in the past decade.� Milons fumbled the 2nd half KO, and was
saved by Harrison's recovery.� Reed was
2-2 on FGs, booting 48 and 43 yard FGs.�
His first KO reached the GL, but thereafter they reached only the 6, 10,
and 8.� The last 2 KOs were also of the
low liner variety, which is never good to have a short, low KO.�� Rob Bironas had 2 KOs, one to the 2 and the
other 4 yards deep in the EZ.� ��As I've stated previously, Bironas must be
given a long look to make the roster.� Gardocki
had 1 punt for 37 yards.�
OC:�
Not much to analyze here in preseason.�
Only concern I have right now, is that Duce Staley -- a superb receiver
out of the backfield -- has been ignored in the preseason thus far in this
department.� What I don't want is a re-visitation
to the Fred McAffee days, when McAfee would enter the game on 2d or 3rd &
long, thus loudly signaling to the defense, "Shotgun Draw or Screen
Pass!!".� Inserting Haynes every
time there's a screen pass isn't my idea of versatility or surprise.� Staley is a very, very capable threat out of
the backfield, and we'll have to wait to the regular season to see how
Whisenhunt plans to take advantage of this capability.�
DC:�
LeBeau is going with loads of vanilla, which I can live with right
now.� In preseason, you want to see how players
are doing in 1-on-1 matchups, which means a heavy dose of vanilla. �I won't be happy, however, if I see anywhere
near this much vanilla come Sep. 12th.� I'm
also not fond of seeing Zo Jackson dropped continuously back into
coverage.� We need to evaluate this
man's pass rushing skills, and we need to see what this defense looks like with
a 4-man rush.�
HC:� Only
comment:� Why on earth would you take a
knee at end of game, on 3 straight plays near midfield?� This isn't about "rubbing it in"
or any such poppycock.� This is about
giving Brown, Haynes, &/or Parker some more carries, and giving the backup
O-line some more reps. Sure, it's only 3 plays, but we've been inundated with
all of this blather about "a return to smashmouth" and "establishing
an identity" and "getting back to the bread & butter".� If sincere, you do that by taking advantage
of every single opportunity that you can.�
Synopsis:�
A solid all-around effort.� The
offense is as set as you could want, with Staley very capably starting at RB
and Vincent more than adequately settling in at RG.� The defense remains a concern, especially with Ken Bell hobbled
with a nagging injury.� I have concerns
whether this defense can consistently get off the field on 3rd downs, as well
as the cohesiveness early on with both safeties starting for the first time in
the NFL.� Finally, Chad Scott inspires
little from me right now, and seems to be the #1 target for opponents to pick
on.� Next week's preseason finale will
be a yawner, with the starters playing just a couple of series before donning
the ballcaps and chewing on sunflower seeds.�
Barring injury, the only point of interest until Sep. 12th will be the
final cuts.
(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3 Stiller playoff losses�.)